Breaking in to NASCAR's top ranks

The top positions in the Sprint Cup are monopolised by a handful of teams, but an interloper has moved in. Diego Mejia investigates the rise of Michael Waltrip Racing

The Sprint Cup season is just a few races short of entering its play-offs and a quick look at the key top-15 positions in the drivers' standings reveals most of the usual suspects – mainly Hendrick, Roush Gibbs, Stewart-Haas and Penske drivers. However, there's another organisation that has made inroads into that elite group.

Michael Waltrip Racing currently has two of its three drivers among the top 10, with Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr looking very much like Chase contenders. Their win tally so far only shows a victory claimed by Bowyer at Sonoma in June, but their numbers look impressively consistent in terms of top-five, top-10 and average finishes.